World Wet Plate Day 2017

May 6th 2017

Every year, we celebrate the World Wet Plate Day the first saturday in May. Block your agenda for this 8th edition. Organize your Wet Plate Day event and have some fun.

What is a Wet Plate Day?

World Wet Plate Day is a day to celebrate the work of the artists who practice it today. Wet Plate Collodion is the photographic process of pouring Collodion onto a plate of thin iron or glass, then exposing and developing that plate while it’s still wet. This process was the primary photographic method from the early 1850s until the late 1880s. It replaced paper negatives/Calotypes (Talbot) and Daguerreotypes (Louis Daguerre). The current revival of the Wet Plate process is due in large part to the ubiquity of digital photography and because of the unique Collodion “signature” and aesthetic.

Who We Are and Why We Do This

From reenactment tintypes, to still life ambrotypes, to studio portraits, photographers have embraced the ethereal look, handmade process, and arcane yet simple materials of Wet Plate. Wet plate photographers can be artists, engineers, wilderness travelers, studio operators or backyard hobbyists. But they all have been deeply impacted by this beautiful technique. read more…

Join

By making Wet Plate Collodion images on the day of May 6, 2017, you will share the experience with the 1850s founders, the 1870s portrait artist or traveling tintypist, and today’s revivalists. By uploading your favorite plate, your work on that day can be enjoyed by us all.